Droids, transformers, robots -- and Bridgewater-Raynham

Robotics teams from throughout the region compete during weekend event.

Tom Relihan The Enterprise TMRelihan_ENT

BRIDGEWATER – Perched atop a small tower in the center of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School’s gym, Aimee Rodrigue popped a cog into place, and the crowd went wild.

Cranking an attached handle set a propeller over her head into motion, and the score for the Blue Alliance team, of which the school’s TJ2 robotics team was a member, rose to the high 200s.

On the floor below, the team’s student-built robot pulled away to go snag another gear, beating an opposing robot out of the way as it tried to block its path.

Behind a Plexiglas barrier a few feet away, Nick Avtges and two other members of TJ2 furiously worked their control pads to make it all happen.

By the time the match ended, their score was well over 300 – among the highest of the day so far. The hard work they’d put into building the robot had paid off during the first of a series of regional tournaments in the FIRST Robotics league.

Bridgewater-Raynham was chosen to host the event this year. The gymnasium was transformed into a high tech arena, and hundreds attended.

If the team continues to do well, they’ll make it to the finals, to be held at the University of New Hampshire.

Brandon Holley, who works for FIRST and ran the weekend’s tournament, said each year features a new game.

This year’s season had a “steam punk” theme – teams had to use their robots to collect neon green Wiffle balls that represent fuel for an airship – the tower – and the gears to make it fly.

At the end, the robots had to be lifted on to the ship with ropes.

The top eight of the 42 teams form permanent alliances for the final rounds, and the top alliance is the tournament winner.

Holley said the purpose of the organization is to spark interest in science and engineering among students. The organization offers a variety of scholarships, besides organizing the competitions.

“It’s all about building it yourself, learning skills, competing in a graciously professional way,” he said. “You enhance the chances of a student hooking on to a science or engineering field. It totally works.”

Nick Avtges, a member of the TJ2 team, said their robot’s dominance to that point proves the value of the hard work they all put into creating it.

“Over the four years, this is best robot I think we’ve produced,” he said. “Alumni said before that, even going nine years back it’s the best we’ve had in a while.”

Avtges said their robots was designed to be fast enough to quickly cross the field while being sturdy enough to fend off opposing robots that tried to play defense.

“It was very successful in this match especially” he noted.

TJ2 will play 10 more matches over the course of the tournament, Avtges said.

Locally, Oliver Ames High School also sent their Iron Tigers team to compete.

Scores can be found at: https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2017mabri